Author: Keven McQueen
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 9781455620159
Category : Curiosities and wonders
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Based on newspaper accounts from the nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, many from the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal, the bizarre incidents of the South prove that death can be both surprising and macabre. Inspired by articles from the late 1800s to the 1930s, these true tales retain their accuracy but still aim to tell a good story. The stories vary in theme from Graveyard Gossip and Murders of Egregious Atrocity to Gore Galore and Tales of the Hangman. From body snatchings and grave robberies to disturbing murders and suicides, these happenings have the potential to inspire horror and humor equally. The ridiculous and apt final sayings attributed to the dead in the section Last Words remind you that joking about death can be a serious offense. Stealing bodies in the nineteenth century became so prevalent, because of the money that could be earned, that relatives of the deceased would spent days in cemeteries guarding their loved ones. One ingenious man from Tennessee even suggested that people fill graves with cement to prevent body snatching. The medical expertise of physicians at the time did not include knowledge of the subtleties of supposed lifelessness; many times the presumed dead were buried alive only to wake later and attempt to claw their way out of the ground. Mourners in South Carolina had the interesting habit of decorating graves with common items, such as soap dishes, coffee cups, and cigar boxes. Some people did not respect the solemn and timely nature of memorial services: Rev. Dr. Nathanial Pridgeon of Georgia insisted on preaching his at his own funeral, and a woman in West Virginia turned her husband�s tragic death date into her new wedding anniversary. Covering occurrences from Virginia to Louisiana, North Carolina to Mississippi, these ghastly and sometimes ghostly tales are grossly entertaining and historically unique in that the collection is focused solely on unusual instances of death and dying down South. The book also includes a section listing incidents of the unbelievable phenomenon of black crowds lynching black criminals from the 1870s to the 1940s.
Author: Keven McQueen
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253043697
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 167
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Book Description
From gruesome murders to ghost sightings, a collection of historical stories ranging from terrifying Texas to spooky South Dakota. The Wild West is infamous for its outrageous stories, cowboys, and gun battles. But the region is also known for its ghost stories, unexplained deaths, bizarre murders, and peculiar burials. This book features numerous tales of true crime and odd phenomena from the frontier—from an investigation into a series of massacres that a female suspect claimed were committed by a religious cult to a body buried in the middle of a road and much more. Drawing on newspaper reports from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it’s a chilling tour of the farmhouses, saloons, graveyards, and gallows of the West.
Author: Eryk Pruitt
Publisher: New Lit Salon Press
ISBN: 0988551225
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 140
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Book Description
Southern Gothic: New Tales of the South is an anthology like no other. Featuring over 15 stories and poems by new and veteran authors, the writing reflects a diverse range of Southern experience. From the post-Katrina New Orleans of Rose Yndigoyen’s “Long Gone Girls” and the deep-rooted family of Hardy Jones’ “Visitin’ Cormierville” to the racial tension of Eryk Pruitt’s “Them Riders” and Shane K. Bernard’s “The Phrenologist,” the anthology represents a new interpretation of the long-established Southern Gothic genre. Each story is paired with original art by Nathan Mark Phillips. Phillips’ images pull at the underside of the stories and bring a thoughtful level of interpretation to each work. Poking at the heart of Southern distinctiveness, these writers and artists make a bold statement about the south in the 21st century.
Author: Karen L. Cox
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469635046
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery—known in the press as the "Wild Man" and the "Goat Woman"—enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate "Goat Castle." Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded "justice," and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder by opening their derelict home to tourists. Strange, fascinating, and sobering, Goat Castle tells the story of this local feud, killing, investigation, and trial, showing how a true crime tale of fallen southern grandeur and murder obscured an all too familiar story of racial injustice.
Author: Tiya Miles
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469626349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 175
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Book Description
In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. "Dark tourism" often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic "Old South" narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.
Author: Keven McQueen
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253029120
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
A spooky history of the American Midwest—from grave robbers to ghost sightings and more—by the author of Creepy California. Most people think of the American Midwest as a place of wheat fields and family farms; cozy small towns and wholesome communities. But there’s more to the story of America’s Heartland—a dark history of strange tales and unsettling facts hidden just beneath its quaint pastoral image. In Horror in the Heartland, historian Keven McQueen offers a guided tour of terrible crimes and eccentric characters; haunted houses and murder-suicides; mad doctors, body snatchers, and pranks gone comically—and tragically—wrong. From tales of the booming grave-robbing industry of late 19th-century Indiana to the story of a Michigan physician who left his estate to his pet monkeys, McQueen investigates a spooky and twisted side of Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Exploring burial customs, unexplained deaths, ghost stories, premature burials, bizarre murders, peculiar wills and much more, this creepy collection reveals the region’s untold stories and offers intriguing, if sometimes macabre, insights into human nature.
Author: J.T. Ellison
Publisher: Two Tales Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 294
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Book Description
Look at this picture. Tell me what you see… The American South is rife with stories of a haunted past—especially its houses. In this eclectic and impressive collection, thirteen novelists were asked to build their tales around the photo of a dilapidated mansion. They were given two requirements—the house must appear in the story, and it should be a Southern Gothic tale. And they delivered. From childish demons to a mad novelist, from the Mississippi delta to the Appalachians, this collection from emerging voices and New York Times bestselling authors explores what happens when secrets that lie beneath the dust are disturbed—and our worst nightmares begin. Darkness lurks behind every corner, especially dead ends.
Author: Rosemary Clement-Moore
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0375898107
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 418
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Book Description
Amy Goodnight knows that the world isn't as simple as it seems. She also understands that "normal" doesn't mix with magic, and she's worked hard to build a wall between the two worlds. Not only to protect her family, who are all practicing witches, but to protect any hope of ever having a normal life herself. Ranch-sitting for her aunt in Texas should be exactly that: good old ordinary, uneventful hard work. Only, Amy and her sister, Phin, aren't alone. There's someone else in the house with them--and it's not the living, breathing, amazingly hot cowboy from the ranch next door. It's a ghost, and it's more powerful than the Goodnights and all their protective spells combined. It wants something from Amy, and none of her carefully built defenses can hold it back. This is the summer when the wall between Amy's worlds is going to come crashing down. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults Praise for Texas Gothic: [Star] "You can't get much more Nancy Drew. . . . This engaging mystery has plenty of both paranormal and romance, spiced with loving families and satisfyingly packed with self-sufficient, competent girls."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred [Star] "Teens looking for a rollicking adventure filled with paranormal events, dastardly evildoers, and laugh-out-loud moments as Amy and Ben argue and snipe their way to love will adore this book."--School Library Journal, Starred "The author mixes suspense, humor, and lots of local flavor. . . . The enjoyable sum is a lively teen ghost story with sex appeal."--The Horn Book "A deeply affectionate rendering of Texas landscapes and legends combines with an appealing cast of well-developed characters to give texture to this well-plotted mystery; truly scary moments are balanced by the humorous bumbles of the awkwardly developing romance between Amy and Ben, as well as Phin's sublime cluelessness about the way her eccentricities appear to other people."--The Bulletin
Author: Elizabeth Carpenter Piechocinski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781939306043
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
Southern Gothic is a compilation of intriguing tales from the South that include mystery, suspense, ghosts, murder, and along with all that, an idealistic view of life. You will also find the inclusion of a little tongue-in-cheek humor as well. In addition, these tales are based in fact, making them all the more interesting. In the pages of Southern Gothic, Stories From a Place Called Dixie, you'll find the delightful tales of... . Miss Tillie, a rather delicate looking, well-to-do lady who roamed the town day and night, but was also a confirmed kleptomaniac! . A faithful dog, Boss, who served his beloved tugboat captain, giving up his life to be with his master until the very end. . The strange tale of "Spaghetti," a mummified Italian man who was kept in a case at the local funeral home a block from the school, much to the squeamish delight of the local children. . The story of the heroic efforts of the Savannah Ladies Gunboat Association who endeavored to raise money to build ironclads for the Confederacy. And many, many more interesting tales in this collection of stories from the South!
Author: Eden Royce
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 9781326269890
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 172
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Book Description
Pull up a rocking chair and sit a spell. Soak in these tales of Southern Gothic horror: A witchdoctor's niece tells him a life-altering secret, an investigator who keeps a 100% confession rate.... These are stories where the setting itself becomes a character-fog laced cemeteries, sulfur rich marshes-housing creatures that defy understanding and where the grotesque and macabre are celebrated. The true horror is in what you can't see...until it's sitting right next to you. Eden Royce delivers a sultry and spicy dose of Southern Gothic. The stories are rich in flavor and clever in metaphor, the horrors completely surreal or-far more unnerving-all too possible. She brings a refreshing perspective to the table that paranormal lovers are sure to enjoy. -B.D. Bruns, author ofThe Gothic Shift You can feel the warm thick air, the rich history and legends, the desperation of the impoverished, and the deep horror of the betrayed. -Roma Gray, author of Gray Shadows Under a Harvest Moon"
